He worked in both short story and novel form. Many of his stories ended up in film or television form, including episodes of the Twilight Zone and his own Ray Bradbury Theater anthology series.

He is credited by some for having helped bring speculative fiction new literary respect due to his evocative, lyrical writing style that brings out the emotion of a situation rather than just focusing on technology or common fantasy tropes.

One of the things that stands out in Bradbury's fiction is the way he juxtaposes the normal and the fantastic. This happens across genres in his works.

For example, in The Martian Chronicles there is a story ("The Earth Men") in which a group of Human astronauts--anxious to make first contact with Martians--show up on the doorstep of a Martian house and are agast when the annoyed Martian housewife who comes to the door is singularly unimpressed with them and disgruntled at having to take time out from her busy day to deal with them.

In a later story ("There Will Come Soft Rains"), an automated house goes about its own busy, daily routine of making toast and coffee, laying out clothes, doing household chores, and getting everything ready for the family that dwells in it to go about their own days--only the family isn't there because a nuclear war has occurred.

The same things happens in fantasy, as when--in Something Wicked This Way Comes--a carnival comes to a small town. There's always been something creepy about carnivals, and this one is creepier than most as it draws two 13-year old Midwestern boys into its orbit.

There is often that juxtaposing of the ordinary and the extraordinary, creating a sense in his writings that our ordinary lives are--or can be--interwoven with elements of wonder and mystery, that there are brighter lights and darker shadows than we are commonly aware.

His work often explores the interrelationship between good and evil--two prominent themes in Something Wicked This Way Comes.

That makes it natural to wonder what Bradbury's own faith was.

He doesn't seem to have talked about this much, and when he did, he gave answers that didn't always fit together neatly.

That's the mistake we made when Darwin showed up. We embraced him and Huxley and Freud, all smiles. And then we discovered that Darwin and our religions didn't mix. Or at least we didn't think they did. We were fools. We tried to budge Darwin and Huxley and Freud. They wouldn't move very well. So, like idiots, we tried knocking down religion.

We succeeded pretty well. We lost our faith and went around wondering what life was for. If art was no more than a frustrated outflinging of desire, if religion was no more than self-delusion, what good was life? Faith had always given us answers to all things. But it all went down the drain with Freud and Darwin. We were and still are a lost people.

Bradbury, who turns 90 this month, says he will sometimes open one of his books late at night and cry out thanks to God.

"I sit there and cry because I haven't done any of this," he told Sam Weller, his biographer and friend. "It's a God-given thing, and I'm so grateful, so, so grateful. The best description of my career as a writer is, 'At play in the fields of the Lord.' "

Bradbury's stories are filled with references to God and faith, but he's rarely talked at length about his religious beliefs, until now.

'Joy is the grace we say to God'

He describes himself as a "delicatessen religionist." He's inspired by Eastern and Western religions.

The center of his faith, though, is love. Everything -- the reason he decided to write his first short story at 12; his 56-year marriage to his muse and late wife, Maggie; his friendships with everyone from Walt Disney to Alfred Hitchcock -- is based on love.

Bradbury is in love with love.

Once, when he saw Walt Disney, architect of the Magic Kingdom, Christmas shopping in Los Angeles, Bradbury approached him and said: "Mr. Disney, my name is Ray Bradbury and I love you."

Bradbury's favorite book in the Bible is the Gospel of John, which is filled with references to love.

"At the center of religion is love," Bradbury says from his home, which is painted dandelion yellow in honor of his favorite book, "Dandelion Wine."

"I love you and I forgive you. I am like you and you are like me. I love all people. I love the world. I love creating. ... Everything in our life should be based on love."

So Bradbury may not have had a solid religious identity, but--unlike some science fiction writers (I look at you, Isaac Asimov)--he was clearly open to and moved by religious concepts.

His stories, which convey strong emotion--whether wonder, awe, longing, mystery, the experience of beauty, fright, or whatever it may be in a particular case--also touch on themes that are part of the life of faith, and of life in general.

I was tempted to mark Bradbury's passing by titling this post in a way that plays on "There Will Come Soft Rains" (the story about the automated house whose family is missing)--perhaps by quoting from Job 7:10 (“He will not return again to his house, Nor will his place know him anymore"). However, I decided to go a different way.

Let us hope--and pray--that in his final encounter with the Lord, Bradbury was able to experience it with the same awe and wonder that his stories can evoke, that he would feel "Something Wondrous This Way Comes."

A thoughtful, knowledgeable tribute. Bradbury was a big reason I aspired to be a writer. “Something Wicked” was a boyhood favorite, as was “Dandelion Wine”—sort of the yin and yang of boyhood fear and joyful wonder. “The Illustrated Man” was perhaps my favorite collection of stories; it was a brilliant conceit to string together disparate stories. One of my favorite short stories (from that book) was “Kaleidoscope,” about some astronauts that get blown away from each other in space after their ship explodes. They can communicate with each other via radio, and the protagonist, as he moves toward Earth and his death, looks back on his life and realizes he has accomplished nothing of value. He wishes he had done something in his life that made someone besides himself happy. The story ends with a kid in the Midwest looking into the night sky and seeing the astronaut’s body hit the atmosphere. “Look, a shooting star!” the child exclaims. “Quick,” says his mother. “Make a wish.”

Posted by Kathleen on Friday, Jun, 15, 2012 10:04 AM (EDT):

Thank you for this article.I have a better idea of who he was now.

Posted by Dan on Sunday, Jun, 10, 2012 9:41 AM (EDT):

Christian, that’s “Kaleidoscope.”

Posted by Christian on Saturday, Jun, 9, 2012 10:11 PM (EDT):

Offhand: the one where an astronaut, due to an accident in space, reenters the atmosphere on his own. On Earth a child looks up and sees the shooting star; his mom tells him to make a wish.

Posted by Jody Morgan on Friday, Jun, 8, 2012 12:46 PM (EDT):

I have yet to read even half of what Ray Bradbury wrote, but my favorites so far are “There Will Come Soft Rains”, which is both achingly sad and beautifully poetic, and “The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit”, which is pure joy in prose form.

Posted by Daria M Sockey on Thursday, Jun, 7, 2012 11:47 PM (EDT):

I read Dandelion Wine almost every summer. That plus Charlotte’s Web are the two best books written about the magical, fleeting days of summer.

Posted by rosemarie kury on Thursday, Jun, 7, 2012 8:42 PM (EDT):

I’m not much of a science fiction fan but I loved Farenheit and particularly “Something Wicked here comes”—it was a scarier story than many of Stephen Kings, yet without all the gory details. RIP Ray, and God did inspire you, so I’m hoping that you are sharing in His love today.

Posted by Tony on Thursday, Jun, 7, 2012 8:36 PM (EDT):

Can anybody verify for me that Ray Bradbury wrote the script for a play on the life of Therese of Lisieux?

Posted by Jeff Miller on Thursday, Jun, 7, 2012 5:19 PM (EDT):

I recently re-read “Something Wicked This Way Comes” and I was struck by how heroic the father was. He was not a perfect figure and someone a bit fallen, but he rises to the occasion and shows his love for his son. So often in novels and especial the movies and TV fathers are usually not strong characters and more often to be rather stupid.

Posted by MK on Thursday, Jun, 7, 2012 3:49 PM (EDT):

I read Something Wicked This Way Comes in high school - on my own, since it wasn’t ‘required reading’ - and it stuck with me. Unlike nearly everything I was forced to read (Hemingway, Steinbeck), there was a lovely ribbon of hopefulness laced throughout the story. I couldn’t get it out of my head. It was like a song in book form.

Posted by fwk on Thursday, Jun, 7, 2012 2:30 PM (EDT):

http://uomovivo.blogspot.it/2012/06/bradbury-chestertoniano.html

Bradbury wrote a poem (link above) describing his ideal heaven.

Posted by Sylvain Durand on Thursday, Jun, 7, 2012 12:06 PM (EDT):

I must admit I only know Ray Bradbury’s stories from the wonderful adaptations EC comics did from them. He seemed like such a nice guy and his attitude toward spirituality is refreshing for a science-fiction author.

Posted by Jim on Thursday, Jun, 7, 2012 12:00 PM (EDT):

When I was a freshman in high school, I, already a Bradbury fan, found a copy of “Something Wicked This Way Comes” and spent the day reading it instead of going to class. I just couldn’t put it down!

Posted by Teresa on Thursday, Jun, 7, 2012 11:31 AM (EDT):

Apparently, Mr. Bradbury was a Chesterton fan, as I read yesterday on this wonderful Chesterton site:

So much to love, it’s hard to point to one. But I absolutely loved his story The Laurel and Hardy Alpha Centauri Farewell Tour.

Posted by John on Thursday, Jun, 7, 2012 10:50 AM (EDT):

His short story, “The Rocket Man”, is one of my favorites.

Posted by Dan on Thursday, Jun, 7, 2012 10:39 AM (EDT):

My favorite is probably “The Rocket.” The sense of the future having left you behind—yet you’re resourceful enough to find joy among its leavings. My second favorite is “Uncle Einar,” on turning lemons into lemonade.

The way Bradbury could pack both joy and despair into the same story until it almost burst, and the profoundly moving imagery, is a wonder to behold.

Thank you to Mr. X for reminding me to “Make a wish.”

Posted by Andy on Thursday, Jun, 7, 2012 8:19 AM (EDT):

For me it is Dandelion WIne - the reverence for the past, and the need to see how technology causes us great losses is prophetic. The personal interconnectedness of the characters stands in stark contrast to today’s personal disconnection - I’ll send an e-mail, or better yet facebook you. In many ways I long for the days of sneakers making me run faster and jump higher.

Posted by Ann Marie on Thursday, Jun, 7, 2012 12:10 AM (EDT):

Thank you, Jimmy for another of your gems!

Posted by fairlady68 on Thursday, Jun, 7, 2012 12:03 AM (EDT):

I LOVED this article…I had no idea of Bradbury’s rich inner life, not having read much “science fiction.” That genre has always seemed so bleak to me…but you have inspired me to seek out Bradbury’s work. I also appreciate your introducing me to the more apt term of “speculative” fiction for this type of writing. I see your work on the NC Register blog I get on my black and white Kindle…and in coming online to leave this comment, I was interested to see your picture in color for a change…such bright red hair! Who knew? Thanks again, Jimmy, for broadening my literary horizons.

Posted by Mr. X on Wednesday, Jun, 6, 2012 11:35 PM (EDT):

KALEIDOSCOPE, from the Illustrated Man, is the story that sticks out for me, especially the closing lines. Of course, there is much of him I have not read, but at the kids’ high school, everyone who has gone through so far has been required to read FAHRENHEIT 451 and some have read SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES as well.

Posted by Michael Hayden on Wednesday, Jun, 6, 2012 10:49 PM (EDT):

For my two cents’ worth, I have taught 451 for many years and think its essence resides in his depiction of the way the characters think. The science fiction technology seems a touch hokey today, but the degradation in that society is prophetic. If you haven’t read his afterward in the second edition, you must; it is quite spirited.

Posted by priest's wife on Wednesday, Jun, 6, 2012 10:28 PM (EDT):

I love his short story “All Summer in a Day”

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Jimmy was born in Texas, grew up nominally Protestant, but at age 20 experienced a profound conversion to Christ. Planning on becoming a Protestant pastor or seminary professor, he started an intensive study of the Bible. But the more he immersed himself in Scripture the more he found to support the Catholic faith. Eventually, he entered the Catholic Church. His conversion story, “A Triumph and a Tragedy,” is published in Surprised by Truth. Besides being an author, Jimmy is the Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a contributing editor to Catholic Answers Magazine, and a weekly guest on “Catholic Answers Live.”